Like so many 1970s Marvel books, it starts with a mugging. Bill Foster is accosted by some street hoods, so he grows big and literally bowls them down with a garbage can as they flee. The dialog isn’t great (“Uh-uh! No leaving without saying you’re sorry!”), but at least it isn’t stilted in an insulting black vernacular, like they often do with Luke Cage. And you have to applaud Marvel for having two black solo superhero comics out at the same time. Even today, that’s a rarity.
Sadly, it’s not a very good comic. Foster is working in research and development for Tony Stark. You’ll see a tag for Geoffrey Ballard at the bottom. He becomes a villain much later, in Ms. Marvel #18.
Since he’s in a secret lab, Black Goliath fights off guys who try to steal some tech. First, it’s Atom Smasher.
A villain who can turn himself into pure energy.
Then, a never-seen-again villain called Vulcan. Then, he caps off his series with a fight against Stilt Man. Silt-Man?!?
Along the way, we learn that Foster has cancer.
And to make the book appear more “authentically ethnic,” there’s a bodega called “Pop’s.”
And hoodlums hang out in front of it. Because of course they do.
Also, Kurt Busiek chimes in with a letter-troll letter.
“Fantastic!” ??? Dude. You’re lying. Here’s the yellow box farewell from issue #5:
Tony Isabella (“conceived and written” #1), Chris Claremont (writer #2-4), George Tuska (pencils)
I liked this comic. Unfortunately, I think I was the only one who did. The above “sign-off” letter to the two or three other fans who also did wasn’t wrong. When a series is cancelled after only five issues, that means absolutely NO ONE is reading it! Even the X-Men’s 1970-1975 reprint-phase had a greater readership than “Black Goliath”. After having studied that small handful of issues, I believe that I can identify the series’ problem: The series’ tiny black readership found the character of Dr. Bill Foster/Black Goliath to be too “white”, and the series’ remaining white readership did not find the character to be “white” ENOUGH. So- perhaps a little more crossover with the rest of the 616 would have helped- Yellowjacket and the Wasp was a step in the right direction, but it wasn’t quite enough. Perhaps if BG had joined the Avengers ( not the doomed Champions ) during the period of his solo series, he could have benefitted from that spillover exposure. Also- Black Goliath’s two-part appearance in ‘Power Man’s #24 and 25 during this same period of time was highly enjoyable, and was one of the highlights of that series’ entire run. The main reason why is because Bill Foster’s former wife has fallen for Luke Cage ( why-???? Was Bill Foster just too smart for her-?!?!?! ) which, of course, puts these two super-jocks ( understandably ) at each other’s throats. My thought was, if somehow, this excellent plot-point could have been incorporated into and continued indefinitely into both the ‘Black Goliath’ and ‘Power Man’ series, simultaneously, the dramatic possibilities would have provided enough story-engine to keep both series going on throughout at least the rest of the 1970’s! Hey! It’s always worked pretty good for the Mr. Fantastic/Invisible Woman/Sub-Mariner story-arc over in “Fantastic Four”! If only either writer- Isabella, or Claremont-had thought of it, maybe these two fine series would still be going concerns today! I have always believed that the basic “Hero For Hire” concept had legs, if only the right writer could have come along for it. Well, I hear the “House of Ideas” is always on the lookout for the next big thing, so maybe somebody at that house will read this post. Excelsior!